The Disability Confident (DC) scheme was launched in November 2016 and supports the Government’s commitment of helping one million more disabled people into work by 2027. Disability Confident provides employers with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to attract, recruit, retain and develop disabled people in the workplace. The scheme is designed as a journey, with all employers starting at Level 1 and progressing through the scheme at their own pace. Accreditation for each level lasts for 3 years. No employer is too small or new to start the journey and even the most experienced employer will still find new techniques and best practice that can help them.

As of 13/9/2019, the latest published figures show that over 13,600 employers are signed up to the scheme nationally at the following levels: Level 1 - DC Committed (10,031), Level 2 - DC Employer (3,336), Level 3 - DC Leader (244) of those, 62% are small or micro employers and 80% are SMEs. All main Government departments are DC Leaders (Level 3) and over 83% of Local Authorities signed up, with good penetration of NHS and blue-light services. In Crawley there are 17 Disability Confident organisations; 7 DC Committed (Level 1) and 10 DC Employer (Level 2).

Of the 157,000 jobs currently advertised on the DWP Find a Job website, over 20,000 are from DC employers – totalling 13%. Over the last 5 years the number of disabled people in employment has increased by around 1.06 million since Q2 2013, and currently stands at 7.7 million.

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In 2016 the Department for International Trade established the Midlands Engine Investment Hub which has developed several sector-based investment propositions for the Foreign Direct Investment offer in key Midlands sectors, including the East Midlands. These are now promoted widely within DIT’s International network.

There were 69 investment projects that landed in the East Midlands in tax year 2018-2019, with 1,823 associated new jobs.

On 30 July the first East Midlands proposition within DIT’s High Potential Opportunities programme was launched. This showcases the Leicester Space Park offer and will be promoted to a targeted list of overseas investors.

Through our proposed reforms and the policies set out in the Agriculture Bill we will increase demand and therefore employment opportunities for those who have these skills by financially supporting farmers who undertake environmental works. We regularly discuss these reforms with farmers and the educational and advisory services that serve farming; including the Food and Drink Sector Council who are specifically looking at the workforce, skills and jobs we want to see in the future.

I can absolutely give my hon. Friend the assurance that as we look to meet our climate change target we will indeed see more jobs being created in this sector, and I was very pleased when I made the announcement about the net zero emissions target to visit Imperial College here in London, which is doing important research and training work on CCS that will be of benefit across this country and the world.

My right hon. Friend will be aware that there are already almost 400,000 people employed in the low carbon sector and its supply chains across the country, but can she assure me that more jobs will be created in this industry through our modern industrial strategy, including through the utilisation of carbon capture and storage, which will be critical to our meeting our net zero targets?

Clean Growth is at the heart of this Government’s modern Industrial Strategy. There are currently 400,000 jobs in the low carbon economy, with the ambition to have 2 million by 2030.

We’ve injected £2.5 billion into low-carbon innovation and earlier this year struck a deal with the offshore wind industry, which will see up to £40 billion worth of infrastructure investment in the UK, creating clean, green electricity, good jobs and sustained growth across the UK. Under the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, industry aims to more than triple the number of ‘green collar’ jobs in the sector to 27,000 by 2030, up from the current figure of 7,200.

North East Lincolnshire has received one Coastal Communities Fund (CCF) grant award to date. CoastNEL, the Coastal Community Team for North East Lincolnshire, was awarded a £3.8 million grant in 2017 to support the regeneration of Cleethorpes for the benefit of visitors, businesses and local residents.

The project is still ongoing and actual job creation figures will not be reported on until autumn 2019. It is, however, currently forecast to create up to 56 jobs directly, 379 jobs indirectly and to safeguard a further 10 jobs in the local economy.

Creating more and better jobs is fundamental to reducing poverty, enhancing global prosperity and helping countries overcome the need for aid. DFID’s Economic Development Strategy commits the UK to supporting more and better jobs as a means of delivering the Sustainable Development Goals.

DFID is seeking to make continued improvements to the data on both the number and quality of jobs that our initiatives support. The Department is working closely on this with partners including CDC, the World Bank, the ILO and the UK Office of National Statistics. We periodically report updated information on jobs supported by UK development assistance and intend to publish an update in 2019.

DFID encourages suppliers and their supply chains to comply with ILO standards on Decent Work and it supports a number of initiatives that raise job quality and standards by firms that invest in low income countries. The UK has made expertise from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) available to partner Governments to support better quality labour market monitoring.

The Treasury welcomes the investment in the UK delivered through the awarding of rolling stock contracts to UK based train manufacturers. Rolling stock procurement is undertaken through fair and open competition, usually by train operators as part of their franchise commitments. As such the Treasury has not made any such assessments.

The Government has invited all Mayoral Combined Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) in England to develop Local Industrial Strategies. We aim to agree these with all places by early 2020. For Kent, the South East LEP will set out an ambitious long-term vision for the area to increase its productivity, build on its established strengths, and create new opportunities for people and businesses in emerging sectors and industries.

The government know that regions across the UK have different skills needs, so will build on local strengths to deliver opportunities for people wherever they live. One way we will achieve this is through Skills Advisory Panels which bring together local employers and skills providers to pool knowledge on skills and labour market needs and work together to understand and address key local challenges. These Panels will be led by the Local Enterprise Partnership, and will influence Local Industrial Strategy development.

In Kent, and the wider South East LEP area, the government is working in partnership with local business and civic leaders to grow skills and opportunities for workers across the area by:

- Delivering an increase of 198,900 jobs since 2010 and 31,080 apprenticeship starts last year.

- Investing £590 million of Growth Deal funding to the South East LEP since 2014. delivering 78,000 jobs, 29,000 homes and attracting a further £960 million extra investment into the South East, including £22 million spent on 29 skills projects.

- Investing £6.5 million for the Kent and Medway EDGE Hub. .

- Backing the Innovation Park Medway, within the Kent Enterprise Zone with £4.4 million funding to help attract high quality technology, engineering and manufacturing companies to the area.

Supporting the Local Enterprise Partnership’s Kent and Medway Growth Hub to help small and medium sized enterprises in the areas access the support they need to grow and thrive.

Since its launch in 2012, the Start-Up Loans programme, part of the British Business Bank, has delivered more than 59,000 loans, totalling over £450m. One hundred and seventeen Start-Up Loans have been provided to the Romford constituency with a total value of £879,250.

Businesses will also be helped with the Government’s Industrial Strategy, which is our long-term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create high-quality, well paid jobs throughout the United Kingdom, with investment in skills, industries and infrastructure. We are working with the London Local Enterprise Partnership to develop its Local Industrial Strategy, as part of our aim to create prosperous communities across the country. The Local Industrial Strategy will be long-term, based on clear evidence and aligned to the national Industrial Strategy, identifying local strengths and challenges, future opportunities and the action needed to boost productivity, earning power and competitiveness.

The Industrial Strategy is our long-term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create high-quality, well paid jobs throughout the United Kingdom, with investment in skills, industries and infrastructure. The Government is supporting businesses in Solihull and the West Midlands through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, which brings together world-class UK research with business investment to develop the technologies that will transform existing industries and create entirely new ones. We have to date allocated £298,603,876 of ISCF grant funding to projects in the West Midlands and £14,409 for Solihull.

Government has been working alongside the West Midlands Combined Authority, Local Enterprise Partnerships and local businesses to develop the West Midlands Local Industrial Strategy. This sets out an ambitious long term vision for the region to increase its productivity, build on its sectors at the heart of the region like automotive and life sciences, and create new opportunities for people and businesses in emerging sectors and industries.

The government have also helped businesses through the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme. Since its launch in 2012, the programme has delivered 58 loans, totalling £489,951 for businesses in Solihull.

We have also established a network of Catapult Centres to commercialise new and emerging technologies. In the West Midlands, this includes the High Value Manufacturing Catapult which has two centres in Coventry, and the Energy Systems Catapult in Birmingham. These catapults will help businesses in these areas, and across the UK, to do cutting-edge R&D and train apprentices and doctoral students in high-demand technical skills.

Further examples of action across Greater Birmingham and Solihull:

• The Government is investing £433 million through the local economy through the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Deals to support local economic growth and job creation.
• Projects that have benefitted from investment thus far include the Changan UK Research and Development Facility, and the Universities@IBC project at Innovation Birmingham, a digital and tech business support and incubation campus, which will create over 700 highly skilled jobs in the LEP area.
• Government is working with West Midlands partners to maximise the economic opportunity around the HS2 Interchange Station. The UKC Hub proposals are expected to deliver 35,000 to 77,000 new jobs in highly skilled sectors which will complement the existing economic assets in the area.
• The number of people in private sector employment has increased by 115,000 in the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP area since 2010.

Further examples of action across the West Midlands:

• The Faraday Battery Challenge has invested £80 million in a new state-of-the-art automotive battery development facility in the West Midlands. A key part of the Automotive Sector Deal, the centre will host cutting-edge production and assembly processes and support the future scale-up of battery technologies.
• In July 2018, the government agreed a skills deal with the West Midlands Combined Authority which will boost digital and technical skills, job opportunities, and productivity across the region. This is co-funded by government alongside employer funding and is designed to support more young people and adults into work as well as upskilling and retraining local people of all ages.

• The Midlands Engine Investment Fund provides over £250 million to support small businesses in the Midlands to start and grow. It has now invested £25 million into over 100 SMEs.

The Industrial Strategy is our long-term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create high-quality, well paid jobs throughout the United Kingdom, with investment in skills, industries and infrastructure. The Government has to date awarded over £50m to support businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), which brings together world-class UK research with business investment to develop the technologies that will transform existing industries and create entirely new ones. For example, we are investing in ITM Power (Trading) Ltd in Sheffield to demonstrate the feasibility of a hydrogen economy in remote areas.

Also, since its launch in 2012, the Start-Up Loans programme, part of the British Business Bank, has delivered more than 5,200 loans, totalling £42.690m in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The Government is also investing over £1.3 billion through Yorkshire and Humber Local Enterprise Partnership Growth Deals and has established Enterprise Zones across the region, which are both supporting the creation of higher skilled jobs such as Siemens’ offshore wind blade factory in Hull and at the Humber Enterprise Park in Brough.